News
ISAF launches Twitter feed
Earlier today, I was alerted to the ISAFmedia Twitter feed by my Frontline colleague, Alex Strick van Linschoten. I contacted ISAF, (NATO’s multinational International Security Assistance Force fighting in Afghanistan) and they confirmed that the Twitter feed is an official ISAF operation. A spokesperson said the project "is in its infancy", but ISAF hope to […]
Freelancing in Somalia
Bulgarian freelance journalist Elena Yoncheva has reported from many conflict zones for Bulgarian TV channels. She talks about her time in Somalia in The Standart newspaper today, Have you ever been under attack while on the move in Somalia? I was twice on the verge of being kidnapped. Once we were followed by a jeep […]
Bruised lensmen portraying Kashmir’s clear picture
The tussle between the media, Indian military and police in Indian Administered Kashmir has run into decades now. Journalists are intimidated and harassed while doing their job in what is an extremely hostile environment. At the forefront of this oppression are the photojournalists and camera crew of various newspapers and Channels whose presence is being […]
BBC reporter on covering Gaza
BBC Arabic Correspondent, Shahdi Al Kashif, reported from Gaza during the Israeli military attack at the turn of the year. On Wednesday, he talked to a small group of BBC journalists about the challenges he faced. Below I’ve paraphrased a few of the things he said. I’ve reordered some of his remarks. Reporting from a […]
Sri Lanka: The Gaza Connection.
It’s yet another Colombo morning filled with somewhat bizarre events and news. An SMS message from a local news service just interrupted coffee on my sixth-floor balcony in Wellawatte, saying a suspected LTTE cadre has jumped off a seventh-floor balcony in Wellawatte after security services found suicide kits in a flat. I look around, see nothing unusual and go […]
Dictatorship files on the web
Yesterday the Brazilian government announced a series of initiatives that will allow access to classified files held by the dictatorial government between 1964 and 1985. The first one is a draft law that regulates the classification and access to government files, a Brazilian version of the Freedom of Information Act. President Luis Inácio Lula da […]
#Winnenden and Twitter: German media’s conversation of a shooting
"Kein zweiter Hudson-River-Tweet" (Stefan Winterbauer, Meedia.de) "Not a second Hudson River tweet" Two months have past since Germany was stunned by a killing spree in which 15 people died in Winnenden, just north of Stuttgart. At about 0930 on March 11 a former pupil of the Albertville Secondary School walked into the school and […]
Blog reaction to a new commander in Afghanistan
Lt-General Stanley McChrystal (right) addresses a press briefing on Iraq in 2003. Now he’s in charge of US forces in Afghanistan. (Defenselink.mil) Bill and Bob "Based on Gates’ announcement, it appears that it is a signal that field commanders will be held accountable for the lack of progress in their areas. Gates spoke […]
Back on the road
I’m back on the road after a couple of months stuck in Nairobi – the result of both the financial crash and the fact that I was locked in a room trying to write a book. Travelling would have been enough in itself but this is also my first trip to Chad. Arriving in Francophone […]
Roxana Saberi and media attention
While the world welcomes the release of US/iranian journalist Roxana Saberi and the analysts pile in with their take of what it all means for US/Iranian relations, roughly 125 journalists remain behind bars around the world according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. The Iranian-Canadian blogger Hossein Derakhshan, arrested in Tehran on November 2008, slips […]
Battle of the Queens
The YouTube Queen of Jordan has taken another step towards becoming the world’s most technologically connected Royal. She’s now posting minute-by-minute updates on Twitter. In a couple of days she’s rocketed up from a handful of followers to around four thousand. So far, we’ve heard of her ariel acrobatics, as her husband pilots the royal […]
More on the role of social media in Moldova
A few weeks ago, I was part of an interesting debate about the role of Twitter in a protest against the Communist Party’s election in Moldova. I’d like to say that I think it has been a valuable exchange of ideas conducted in excellent order. I particularly want to thank all the people who commented […]
Venezuelan media on alert
Venezuelan premier Hugo Chavéz has launched a vociferous attack against the opposition media, accusing radio and TV channels of conspiracy. “Enough is enough”, the former paratrooper warned during his regular Sunday television broadcast (in Spanish). “They’ve gone to far.” Chavéz, who recently won a referendum eliminating limited presidential terms, issued a veiled warning to audiovisual […]
Africa Handshake, Part Eight: Size Matters
With two expensive land wars draining the treasury, the Pentagon wants to prevent future conflicts without spending a lot of money. Two years ago the Navy launched its first, roughly annual Africa Partnership Station, sending ships on solo cruises up the West African coast to deliver training and humanitarian aid. The idea: to win new […]
The evolution of military blogging in the mediasphere
A couple of weeks ago I was at the military blogging conference in Washington DC. (I decided to use the opportunity to spend some time travelling in Virginia and then I was straight onto a new media conference in Athens, so I’m way behind with the blogging.) It was really interesting to meet the milbloggers […]
Military’s drug museum shows narco tactics
Mexico’s "Museum of Drugs," buried up on the seventh floor of the Defence Ministry, isn’t open to the public. The installation was designed as an educational tool for military personnel who have been tasked with fighting Mexico’s narco-trafficantes and organized crime networks. It explains the methods that drug traffickers use to get their product around […]
Everyday Chaos in Tbilisi
Last week was another remarkable few days of chaos, intrigue and unresolved mystery in Georgia. An alleged uprising at a military base the day before prestigious NATO exercises were due to begin; arrests of alleged coup plotters; late-night clashes between protesters and policemen at police headquarters; the continued opposition blockade of several main […]
Video SLRs redefine photojournalism
There’s a lot written about the future of journalism, of photojournalism, of video journalism. Too much, perhaps. Even as write this, yet another link with almost that exact title popped into my Twitter feed, via the ever-quote-happy Arianna Huffington. With all the theorising about how we will work in the post-print era (and who will […]
Banned TV station resumes broadcasting… via mobile
In its annual worldwide survey on the media, Freedom House has once again categorized Armenia as "not free," a situation which has been the case since 2002 when the pro-opposition A1 Plus TV station was taken off the air. A huge question mark then hung over the future of the company as many of its […]
Cholmondeley and Me
It was one o’clock in the morning and my beeping phone woke me. One of my papers had been calling, late, very late. I called them back. "Tom Cholmondeley has just been arrested. He shot someone on his land," said the night news editor in London. "Where’s that coming from?" My fuzzy mind knew it […]
Gabriel Orozco opens first solo show in three years in Mexico City
Gabriel Orozco, the Mexican contemporary artist, has opened his first solo show in three years in Mexico City. Crowds turned up last month to the unveiling at the Kurimanzutto art gallery despite the H1N1 flu alert alarming the city at the time. Orozco toured the Mexico states of Oaxaca, Puebla, Queretaro and San Luis Potosi […]
The one question to ask
In the past few days the North of Brazil has been hit by severe flooding. I was trying to gather some figures today when I came across a statement by the National Civil Defence Service. It read: "Over 796 people have been affected in ten states; 38 people have died; and 270 minicipalities face floods […]
Paper ballot boxes, minor clashes, and another assault… Yes, it’s election time in Yerevan
No sooner does the ruling Republican Party of Armenia inform journalists that there is no mutual hatred or enmity between political forces contesting the crucial municipal election to determine Yerevan’s mayor on 31 May comes news of some minor clashes between opposition supporters and the police. Oh, and did I mention an albeit aborted violent […]
Japanese journalist tours Somalia
Given the utter chaos within Somalia, outright danger for journalists and the fact that freelancers Amanda Lindhout and Nigel Brennan remain hostages some 9 months after they were kidnapped outside Mogadishu, I was somewhat surprised to learn about Kenji Goto. He’s a journalist working for the "Independent Press" It appears he hooked up with a […]
Aiding and Abetting Khartoum
So you are an NGO recently expelled from Darfur. Over the years the government in Khartoum restricted your operations in the field, kicked out your country director and a security officer, whom the regime accused of being a Mossad agent. Then, just when you are wondering how you can ever actually help the millions of […]
Africa Handshake, Part Seven: Small Craft, Big Responsibility
With two expensive land wars draining the treasury, the Pentagon wants to prevent future conflicts without spending a lot of money. Two years ago the Navy launched its first, roughly annual Africa Partnership Station, sending ships on solo cruises up the West African coast to deliver training and humanitarian aid. The idea: to win new […]
Karen Greenberg on the first 100 days of Guantanamo
The launch of Karen Greenberg’s book The Least Worst Place made the headlines in the Telegraph with her account of the first 100 days of the notorious prison camp at Guantanamo Bay and how its leadership tried to establish something different than what it became. Center on Law and Security Executive Director, Karen Greenberg wrote […]
Coming to the UK: Obama’s digital strategy
Blue State Digital, the company behind the successful web strategy that won Barack Obama the American presidency, recently opened a London office, recruiting Matthew McGregor to run the operation. MacGregor, who was responsible for Ken Livingstone’s 2008 mayoral campaign amongst others will be at the Frontline Club to talk about Obama’s web strategy and what […]
Winning a battle, losing the war: an odd tribute
Despite having only been in Beirut for a few days, I decided to jump ship on Friday and head for Damascus for the weekend. I won’t bore you with a tourist’s guide but it was three days of great food, magic carpets and mint lemonade. On Sunday morning, though, I ditched the white-socks-and-sandals combo, left […]
Elections in Armenia: Filling in the cracks?
Local elections in Yerevan — you gotta love ’em. After years of being ignored, residents of the capital finally get a look-in during every campaign period with the distribution of vote-bribes or the sudden asphalting of back yards, something that happened this weekend outside my apartment building. With a pre-election campaign meeting by the […]
